Contract needed for swap with Bills; team to sign Kalu for defensive line

Published 5:30 am, Monday, March 27, 2006

Moulds, 32, has been given permission by the Bills to seek a trade because they don't want to pay him the $7.1 million he's due this year.

Before the Texans can work out the trade with Buffalo, they have to negotiate a new contract with Moulds, who caught 81 passes for 816 yards and four touchdowns this past season.

"We're exploring an opportunity for Eric to play for the Texans," said Greg Johnson, one of Moulds' representatives. "If all sides can see eye to eye, we'll make it happen.

"But everyone has to see eye to eye."

The Texans, Philadelphia, Denver and New England are among the teams interested in Moulds, a former first-round draft choice who is entering his 11th year. Over his past eight seasons, Moulds has averaged 78 catches and 1,065 yards.

Reports say that if the Bills can't trade Moulds, who has compiled four 1,000-yard seasons, they'll release him, which would make him an unrestricted free agent.

A league official familiar with the negotiations said Sunday night that the Bills are asking for a fourth-round pick.

The Texans don't want to part with their premium picks in the April 29-30 draft. They have four picks in the first three rounds or four of the first 66 selections. The team has been trying to take care of specific needs in free agency so they can draft the best players available.

"There's definite interest on both sides," Johnson said.

Moulds, 6-2 and 210 pounds, has been one of the NFL's better receivers since Buffalo selected him in the first round of the 1996 draft out of Mississippi State.

Moulds finished this past season with a flourish, making 27 catches for 305 yards in his last three games.

Meanwhile, the Texans are expected to sign another free agent today. Philadelphia defensive end N.D. Kalu agreed to a one-year, $750,000 contract during the weekend.

The former star at Rice is a 10-year veteran who spent the past five seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Kalu, 6-3 and 265 pounds, played in 15 games last season, including eight starts. He had 30 tackles and two sacks.